playable without killing a bunch of people?

[Zinro]

I doubt it. Even if you can avoid killing in quests, you are bound to get attacked by random nameless bandits left and right.

 

Nameless bandits can generally be fled from (especially if you have a sprint mod!) It's certainly more difficult than simply shooting them to bits, but seldom terribly difficult. I managed it pretty well in FONV, and I don't think that Skyrim's bandits are nearly as likely to have automatic weapons :P

 

Illusion is a nice idea for keeping the body count low.

You can probably go quite far without hurting people, though I imagine it'll be necessary to do so at one or more places in the game. As far as FO:NV goes, it was specifically made with a pacifist playthrough in mind, according to the devs, since you were able to do that in the original games... I'm not sure that was ever a priority in TES :P

Edited November 6, 2011 by Zinro

[Xochen]

Kill or be killed is the world we play in, though i think there will be situations where it can be avoided, Tamriel is a really violent place for people who wanders outside the city and into the the wilderness.

[stars2heaven]

There are still paralyze spells, and it may still be possible to drain an opponents stamina to the point that they can't do anything. What would be really cool is if you could do either of these things and take some of their stuff while they were defenseless. If not....theres some modding potential here :)

 

edit: There are also frenzy and conjuration spells...so you aren't exactly doing the killing yourself if it turns out to be necessary.

Edited November 6, 2011 by stars2heaven

[FoolyFooly]

Nameless bandits can generally be fled from (especially if you have a sprint mod!)

 

Skyrim: My Little Pony Edition

[AltreU]

I just noticed that you said in the op that you didn't want to kill "people". So does that mean that you're fine with killing creatures?

[justwannaddl]

Interesting point on running away. I generally found it too much of a hassle when I'm stuck in a dungeon, especially early on when skills and attributes were low. If you are willing to take a lot of hits without seaking retribution early on, I suppose it is possible to go that route. As an explody mage style player though, it really isn't my style. Edited November 6, 2011 by justwannaddl

[Aluminumfoil]

I just noticed that you said in the op that you didn't want to kill "people". So does that mean that you're fine with killing creatures?

 

That's how I did it in New Vegas, the time I did a nonviolent playthrough. (Incomplete, since I've since stopped playing NV, but I was in the mid-twenties, level-wise, with only one "person" kill.) Super mutants, humans, and the intelligent variety of ghouls were off limits unless it was a situation I couldn't run away from or avoid. Animals, bugs, monsters, feral ghouls, and robots were fair game. Although I didn't put many skill points into combat, so I often ran away from those, too :P The only time that I actually had to kill someone was at the end of a quest string, when I caught a spy red-handed and he cornered me with a pistol and I couldn't escape. So. Sniper rifle, VATS, head, kaboom.

 

This was my second main playthrough. The first time, I pretty much singlehandedly exterminated the Legion with Mister Sandman, Mister Sniper Rifle, and Mister Powerfist :P. All while maintaining friendly relations with them! :D Turns out that factions don't become hostile to you if nobody ever sees you strike ^_^

 

Both ways are fun, both pose interesting challenges and exciting moments that emerge unscripted out of the open world. I find the less violent one less emotionally jarring, because at some level it bothers me to kill video game people, even if they are just pixels.

[stumpndum]

Ahem, behold Krystyna Skarbek aka Christine Granville, look her up on Wikipedia or my personal favourite, cracked.

 

If you can't be bothered here's some details.

 

A Polish woman during WW2 who knew some sort of witchcraft to change people's minds, she apparently convinced groups of german's to give up without fighting, in one case they let a german sheppard out to find and kill her, she convinced it to join her... She also convinced a german that had captured another spy to let them go.

 

There's a lot more but that's all i can be bothered writting.

 

Who knew a pacifist could be so badass, i applaud the OP and his non-violent ways, surley in Skyrim a place where you can try and be almost anything, you can be a Jedi...

[xaliqen]

Possibly possible. As you implied, after this 'path' gained attention in New Vegas, maybe Bethesda took it into consideration with Skryim.

 

Though, it would've been a minor consideration, considering most people aren't going to try the complete pacifist route.

Edited November 7, 2011 by xaliqen

[gretzky99]

But if you don't kill anybody, there goes your chances for joining the Dark Brotherhood.